Pranked!
by bobweirdy
Summary: Alex Pennecost is suddenly torn away from his normal life when a mysterious girl interrupts his camping trip, tells him his dad is a god, and takes him to some safe camp for kids like him. The safety of camp is soon in danger. He has to step up to save it
1. An Arrow To The Shoulder

**A.N.: This is my second story. My first didn't turn out well, and I discontinued it.**

**enjoy!**

Man, I love a good prank.

That feeling you get when the victim trips, falls, crashes and burns. I live for that feeling. It fuels me. It makes me feel good.

When I found out I was a half-blood, none of that changed. When I found out who my Olympian parent was, I loved it more.

I'm Alex Pennecost, and I was born to prank.

* * *

During my sixth grade camping trip, my life changed.

The teachers had just called lights out, and kids in my tent were settling down. I was sitting up in my sleeping bag, waiting for the camp to fall asleep.

See, I'd come up with this idea to fill the school bully, Josh's shoes with whipped cream. Josh was a jerk. He was always picking on someone when he wasn't pick-pocketing a kid. Well, I guess I shouldn't judge him... I do my share of pick-pocketing, too.

Anyway, this was my first prank on him in a while, and I wanted to make sure it would succeed.

I waited 'till the whole camp was asleep, the grabbed two cans of whipped cream from a cooler. I went oustide into the cold night air and fumbled around a bit until I found Josh's shoes. They were long boots, propped up near the entrance to his tent.

I opened one can of whipped cream and it let out a hiss a long _hiss_. Shaking the can, I pulled one boot towards me. I filled both shoes, and was soon on my way back to my tent.

On my way there, I tripped. I thought no one would notice, but as I was getting up, one can exploded. A loud, clearly audible_ pop_ was the result.

_Aww shoot,_ I thought,_ now I'll have woken up the whole camp._

I scrambled away into the woods, hid behind a tree and slumped down, thinking that I'd have to wait another half an hour until it was safe to go back to my tent.

While I sat there, beating myself up about it, I thought I saw a flash in the woods. I passed it off as my imagination. What would flash in the middle of nowhere? But then I saw another bright flash. And another.

I decided I'd better go check what it was. Walking through the woods was hard, and I managed to trip alot and fall on my face. Finally, I made it to a clearing, and couldn't believe what I saw.

There was a girl in full greek battle armor who was firing arrows at something in the shadows. Her expression was fierce, but she was beautiful. Her golden hair was tied in a pony tail and tucked under her armor. Her eyes were a pretty blue-ish color. She moved swiftly and fired rapidly.

After about two dozen arrows shot, something growled in the trees and there was the sound of leaves cracking, like something had fallen. The girl slumped down onto the forest floor, panting.

I wondered what she could possibly be doing in the forest by herself, and with armor and a bow no less! She wasn't someone from my school, I would've recognized her.

I started walking towards her to question her, but I tripped. The girl, obviously surprised, sprung back up and shot an arrow at me. It lodged in my left arm. For a moment I was just stunned, then I felt pain searing through my arm. I resisted the urge to scream, knowing that if I did, I'd wake the camp again.

My eyes blurred and watered. Then the girl's eyes widened, and she ran toward me. "Oh my Gods! I'm so sorry!" she whispered. Then she took out a canteen and forced a liquid down my throat. It tasted good, like chocolate brownies. After that I blacked out.

* * *

When I awoke, I was in a completely different part of the forest. There was a teepee behind me, and I was in an armchair. I looked around at my surroundings. It was broad daylight. I couldn't hear the lake anymore. There were oaks all around. A pecking bird was on the tree nearest to me, and I figured it had woken me.

I immediately wondered why I wasn't in my tent. Then I remembered, as my arm sent a fresh wave of pain to my head.

Looking around, I wondered how I got there and where I was. I assumed that Greek girl brought me here, seeing as she was the only one around when I fainted.

I pondered what she'd been doing in the woods. At first I was angry at her for shooting me, then I remembered her eyes, full of concern and worry, and realized that she must've shot me out of suprise at my voice. It was sort of my own fault.

After I'd made sure I was thouroughly aquainted with my surroundings, I decided to rest some more. That idea was short-lived.

I heard leaves cracking, and the girl emerged from the trees with a dead bird and a bow in her hands. Her eyes widened when she saw that I was awake, and she ran over.

"Why'd you shoot me?" I asked immediately, maybe a bit harshly.

She blushed. "Oh, um..." Her voice was higher than most, but not annoying. It sounded like she could be a good singer.

"It's alright," I told her, in a softer voice, "I know you didn't mean to."

She nodded. "I'm so sorry though!"

"No problem. It was my fault, too." I said.

She shook her head. "I should have looked before I shot."

"Whatever. I'm Alex, by the way." I told her

"Hazel," she said and offered her hand. I shook it.

"_Really_ sorry about the arrow. And, um, how's the arm?"

I flexed my arm and winced in pain. It was still better than last night, though. "Better," I told her,"And don't sweat it. I think it's awesome that you can shoot that well in the first place."

She grinned. "Yeah but it's too bad I had to actually shoot you for you to find that out."

I nodded, then remembered something. "Hey," I began, "What was that thing you were shooting at before you saw me?"

She tensed. "Before I tell you," She said, "Promise me not to call the cops to send me to the loony bin."

I shrugged, a bit warily. "I don't have a phone," I told her, "So don't worry"

"Alright," she said and took a deep breath. "You know Greek mythology?" she asked, "Like gods and monsters?"

I nodded, unsure of where this was going. "Yeah that was, like, the only class I payed attention to in school."

"Well," Hazel continued, "All those myths, the gods, and monsters, are true. They exist in the present."

I sat there, shocked, taking this all in. At first I thought she was just joking.

"I take back what I said. I'm finding a phone. You need to be institutionalized."

She sighed, not looking very surprised. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in, but it's really true."

I coughed. "You're freaking me out. Are you crazy?"

She looked annoyed, but she continued unnerved. "And, people like you and me, we're children of the gods. Half-Bloods. Demigods is the official term"

"How do you know that?" I asked her, playing along even though frankly I thought she was insane.

"Well for one," she said and pulled out an arrow,"See this arrow? This is made of celestial bronze. It passes through mortals. It affects gods, monsters, and demigods, like us."

"You can't prove that." I told her, generally finding the whole situation amusing.

She shrugged. "I will later" she replied. "Secondly," she said and pulled out the canteen that she'd made me drink earlier. "This is nectar, the drink of the gods. It would make a regular mortal burn up. Since we're half-bloods, it just heals wounds. Though if you take too much, you'll burst into flames."

I realized I couldn't argue against that, since my arm didn't have a cut anymore. But I was still skeptical.

"I'm going to go along with this, even though I don't believe you. This beats going to school and doing homework any day." I told her.

"Good," She didn't look very satisfied. "Now let's go in the tent and eat." she said, holding up the rabbit.

I followed her in. "Oh, and Hazel?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not killing me"

She turned and smiled. "No problem"

**Hoped you like it! Depending on the number of positive reveiws I'll update (or try) more often. By summer I should prob have 1 up per day.**

**R & R**


	2. I'm offered express shipping

**Heres chappie two. Might just be boring, like Hazel explaining stuff to Alex. BTW anyone guessed who Hazel's parent is? Did I make it obvious, or not? (I did didn't I?) idk. Tell me if I did. **

**Lots of talking in this chapter.**

Right before I finished eating, I realized I forgot something.

"Hey Hazel." I said.

"Mmmhh?

"Who's my Olympian parent?"

She frowned "Not sure. It'll be clear at camp though."

I was puzzled. "Camp?" I asked

She slapped her forehead and cried, "_Vlacas! _I forgot to tell you?"

"Uh, tell me what?"

"About Camp Half-Blood!" she said.

"Well, you didn't mention anything about a camp" I told her.

"Sorry, Alex. Camp Half-Blood is a place where demigods, like us, train to protect ourselves from monsters. It's a Half-Blood sanctuary. We stay there in the summer. Tommorow we'll head over."

"Okay, So why are you out of camp?" I asked.

"I'm on a quest."

"Quest?"

She nodded. "It's when a Half-Blood is permitted to leave camp to complete a special objective."

"Oh. So what's you quest about?" I wondered aloud.

She tensed. "I was sent to defeat a large amount of monsters stirring in this area"

I nodded. Then I thought of something.

"Hey, Hazel?" I asked.

"Yep?"

"Who's you're Olympian parent?"

She smiled. "Apollo, god of archery, the sun, and poetry."

I nodded "Makes sense. So that's why you fight with a bow?"

"Uh-huh"

"Hey," I said, "Any ideas who my parent might be?"

She looked thoughtful. "Hmmm.... what do you enjoy doing most?"

I grinned. "Pranking."

"Alright. Do you think out your plans and make them very elabrate?" she queried.

I thought for a while. "Sometimes" I concluded.

"Alright, then you might be a child of Hermes or Athena. But I could be wrong. It's not set in stone what the children are like." She told me.

"Ok" I said and nodded.

Hazel finished her food then stood up. "I should teach you the basics of swordplay and archery today, after I hunt."

"Alright, but I gotta warn you, I've tried firing a bow, and I'm a horrible shot."

She shrugged. "There's always a time to learn"

And with that she walked out of the tent.

I sat there, still not quite believing what had happened in the past day. At least, I thought it had been a day. I decided to ask Hazel later.

Then a thought struck me. The school. What would the teachers think when they realized I was gone? I wasn't worried about family, I had none, being raised in an orphanage. The orphanage was used to losing kids once in a while. Heck, most of the time they didn't even notice.

I was sorta sad about leaving my friends, but they would move on. Most of them weren't close friends, anyway.

After just lying down for a while, I remembered that I didn't have all my stuff. I groaned. Now I wouldn't have a change of clothes, or toothbrush, or... anything else I would need.

_Daaaaaarrrniiiiiiiiiiiit! This sucks!_

Then I got an idea. I could sneak in and get back my stuff! No one would ever even notice! Of course, I'd have to find the camp first... and it was't even near. I was sure, 'cause I couldn't even hear the lake.

I sighed and kicked a stone. Then I heard a noise, like a rock falling on metal. I looked at where it had came from, and saw that the stone I'd just kicked was lying near a bronze dagger.

_Hmmmm... I could just steal it. Hazel wouldn't notice. She did say that I needed to defend myself. Well, not really, but close enough to be an excuse!_

_Yes!_ I thought, while grinning, _I love loopholes!_

I walked over and picked up the dagger, then went back and lie down, as if nothing had happened.

I examined the dagger. It was made of celestial bronze, and it was so light I could barely tell I was holding it. I grimaced, because It would hurt my arm if I swung it at full force.

Then, as if the dagger was reading my mind, it became heavier.

I was so suprised that I almost dropped it. Then, a grin crept across my face. This thing was sweet! I wondered what else it could do.

I willed it to grow longer, and it did. Right before my eyes, a bronze dagger had become a sword. Laughing, I swung it a few times. It was perfectly balanced. I liked it.

I realized that Hazel would probably notice if a weapon like this was missing, but decided to keep it for the time being. It couldn't hurt. Much.

_You've passed! _a voice said in my head. I nearly jumped a mile. "Holy crap!" I screamed.

_Oh, sorry. _Said the voice.

I gathered my wits and asked, "Umm... who are you?"

_Alex, I am you're father!_ the voice said in an imitation of darth vader.

"Oooookaaaay. I see where I get my sense of humor from!"

_Uh, yeah. I've always loved star wars. So many good moments._

I laughed nervously. "Uh-huh. Listen, why are you talking to me? And a name would be nice." I told the voice.

_Oh. Errmm, well... I wanted to test you. That dagger is my personal favorite weapon. I call it _abeo_. _**A.N. I actually looked that word up. It's latin for 'change'. **_Consider it a gift. I figured you were only worthy if you would steal it. I hate it when my kids think stealing is wrong! The last one that did said something like 'But it's not mine!' before I turned him into a snake. I enjoy snakes._

"Uh, yeah. Sensible. Snakes are a good choice" I said, swallowing my fear.

_Mmm-hhmmm. Yep. Oh, really? So, would you like that with two-day express shipping? No? Alright then. Bye!_

"What?" I asked, completely miffed.

_*cough* err, sorry, Alex. Client on the phone. gotta go!_

"No, wait! Who are you? Please! Tell me!" But it was too late. The voice was gone.

I wondered who it could've been. I raked my mind, trying to think which god would test me with thievery.

Then it hit me. All these pranks. Every time I've stolen. They were inherited traits.

My dad was the god of thieves and travelers.

Hermes.

**Hope you enjoy! R&R**


	3. I can hold a sword fine,thankyouverymuch

**A.N. I'm extremely sorry that I didn't update, everyone. I was on a camping trip. sadly I didn't get to fill anyone's shoes with whipped cream... everyone worth pranking slept with their shoes on... hahaha. They're soooo weird. But seriously, I was planning on doing it.**

**I really hate how I make events happen too fast. I gotta work on that. Thing is, for me it seems like three paragraphs are like, ten or something. Writing a story seems so slow.**

**Oh, and btw, never mock girls with pizza. They'll get revenge. (don't ask)**

**Aggh, also, never play tag with a reeeaaallyy fat kid. He'll tackle you. *Shudders***

**Dang, I have so many stories that were hilarious, I should make a chapter telling them. Then again, you guys clicked on the link for the story.......**

**Here's chapter three.**

* * *

**Hazel's P.O.V.**

When I walked away from the tent, I realized that Alex might be a child of Hermes, meaning he'd probably steal my stuff. I sighed, deciding I would just check for missing things later.

He'd have to be taught that he couldn't mess with my things. Namely, my ipod.

I never went anywhere without it. It was a gift from my dad, Apollo, god of music. That ipod could play any song I wanted it to. It was probably my most prized possesion, except for my bow and arrows.

My bow was amazing. It coudn't break. It was fireproof, because it fired flaming arrows. My quiver was also a gift from my dad.

I know I sound like a spoiled brat, but seriously, that's all my dad had ever done for me. Not that I have anything against him. I mean, He probably can't see his kids often, 'cause he's always flying through the sky on his sun chariot.

Anyway, the quiver could make any arrow I wanted appear in it. That means flaming arrows, sonic arrows, regular arrows, celestial bronze arrows. You name it. It required frequent sacrifice, though, which was _extremely_ annoying sometimes.

I wasn't paying attention to where I was going while I was thinking, and bumped into a tree. I cursed at my clumsiness, got up, brushed myself off, and kept going.

After a fair amount of walking, I reached a clearing where a deer was lounging. I quickly shot it, then ran up and started dragging it back to me and Alex's little tent.

_Alex_

I liked that name. And the kid. Did I just call him that? I forgot that we were the same age.

Anyway, he_ was_ kid of cute. With his thick brown hair, light green eyes, **(A.N. didn't know what color a Hermes kid's eyes would be. Sorry if it would have been diferent.) **and goofy smile.

He seemed so layed-back and relaxed, and he hadn't even gotten angry at me for shooting him.

Alex was a nice guy.

**Alex's P.O.V.**

Hermes.

Or at least, I thought so.

I mean, I guess it should be obvious and stuff, but I'm not that bright when it comes to figuring things like that out, y'know? I'm not dumb or anything, I just never had the chance to properely learn things at school, because of my stupid ADHD and dyslexia.

Oh my gods.

What kid of a half-blood would I be with my disorders? I'd probably be humiliated 50 times over each day, cause I couldn't read well and I always squirm around so much. I thought about hiding it, not letting anyone know, then decided against it. Someone would find out sooner or later.

While I was busy thinking, the tent flap came open and Hazel dragged a deer in.

"Man, that was tiring!" she said between breaths.

"Looks like it." I told her.

She looked at me like she was waiting for me to do something, and said, "Well, don't just stand there! Help!"

"Oh!" I scrambled over and help haul the deer to the fire pit she'd made.

She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Boys, so inept."

"Hey!" I protested as I set the deer down. Luckily, it hadn't been that heavy, so I didn't strain my wounded arm.

she just shrugged. "It's true."

"Well, maybe, but it still wasn't nice." I said, fake pouting like a two-year-old.

she shrugged again. "So?"

"Got me there."

"Thought so."

After she finished preparing the deer, she brought me to a clearing to practice my swordsmanship.

Hazel told me that I might not even be able to _hold_ the sword at first, and that it was nothing to be ashamed of.

I pulled Abeo out and showed her that I could hold a sword just fine, thank you very much!

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh," I said, "Gift from dad."

Her eyes widened. "Did you just say 'dad'?!"

"Oh! Uh, yeah."

And so I told her what had happened.

"Do you think it was Hermes?" I asked.

She nodded. "Oh definitely."

"Alright!" I said, cheerfully, "Well, now that we have that cleared up, let's focus on the lesson!"

Hazel looked suprised. "Alex, you just found out who you're dad is, and you're blowing it off that fast?!"

I faked being in deep thought, then said, "Uh-huh! Now let's go!"

"You really shouldn't be like that."

I shrugged and said, "Well, that's ADHD for you!" Imediately I wished I hadn't said that. Now Hazel knew!

She must've noticed my embaressment, because she spoke up. "Aww, Alex, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Most half-bloods have ADHD and dyslexia."

I brightened. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. ADHD is basically a Half-Blood's battle reflexes, and dyslexia is because you're brain is hardwired for ancient Greek."

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Good to know."

She smiled. "Now let's get started."

**There ya go!**

**Should I have romance between Hazel and Alex? Please tell me in the reviews.**

**I know this is random, but I've been reading about mythology, and I found out that Thalia was a laughing Muse. Weird, huh?**

**another random thing. I've recently started reading The Iliad. It makes my head hurt, and I'm totally lost, but I think it's awesome!**

**Well, tell me what you think!**


	4. Hazel has laughing fits

**Man... I have nothing to say for once...**

It turns out I was pretty ok with a sword. Well, I lost almost every time, but hey, I'd just started.

When we got through the last fight, Hazel was on the ground with my dagger at her throat. I grinned. "Yes! Finally!"

Hazel looked annoyed. "Hmmph. You just won cause you cheated."

I could've sworn I heard her say, "And cause you're too cute for me to beat you up." under her breath, but it might've been my imagination. You know, hearing what you want.

I held out my hand and helped her up. "Hey, all magic items allowed."

"Whatever. Let's go practice archery."

Uh oh. Archery was Hazel's strong point. "sure."

After maybe five minutes, We had a target set up on a tree. It took five minutes because I kept dropping the nails.

"Oh my gods, you are so clumsy Alex!" Hazel said after I dropped a nail for the fifth time. She was trying to hold back laughter, and failing terribly.

"Oh, shut up. Now, are we gonna start or not?"

"S...su...sure." She said, giggling uncontrollably.

I picked up a bow and a few arrows.

"Alright," Said Hazel. "This is how you shoot it." She drew the string back and let go. the arrow hit the bull's eye with a _thump! _"Now you try."

I copied what she did and my arrow missed the target by about an inch. "Dang it!"

"Don't worry, you'll get better. That was you're first shot, after all." She said, her face still red from laughing so hard. "Why don't you try again?"

I shrugged and shot the bow. This time the arrow lodged itself in the target, missing the center by maybe three inches. "Yes!" I said, and thrust my fist into the air.

Hazel looked impressed. "Nice shot!"

Our practice went on for an hour, until my arm hurt. "Man, that's sore!"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Oh, quit complaining Alex."

"Well it does!" I whined.

"Fine, fine. let's go eat then." She said.

We took the target down, (which took lots of nail dropping and laughter) and went to eat.

Just as Hazel handed me a plate with deer meat on it, I had a terrible thought. "This isn't one of those hidden camera shows, is it?" I asked warily.

just as I finished saying that, Hazel burst into laughter. "You...ha-ha... you don't seriously...Hee-hee... you don't seriously think...Heh-heh... I'd lie about something this big, do you?" she asked, her eyes tearing up because of her laughter.

"Um, well... maybe?" I said it more as a question than a statement.

"Ha-ha... no Alex, no. I'm telling the truth." She stuttered, still laughing. "All this... stuff is real. I am NOT lying." Her voice took on a more serious tone at the end.

"Oh. Ok. Well now that that's cleared up, I'm gonna go to sleep." I said

"Alright, then. G'night."

I lyed down in my chair and went to sleep.

- - -

"Alex, Alex!" I heard as I woke up.

"Go 'way." I mumbled and slapped my hand down as if trying to turn off an alarm. I hit something, and I realized it was skin. My eyes shot open, and it took me a while to register that my hand was in Hazel's hand. For about five seconds I just sat there, doing nothing. Then I shot up like a rocket, sure that my face face was completely red.

Hazel started laughing so hard that I thought her lungs might burst.

"Um, do you usually laugh this much?" I asked.

"Oh my gods!" she said after she finished laughing. "The look on you're face was priceless!"

"Glad you enjoy me so much." I said, which made her face turn redder than it was from laughing. "Now, why'd you wake me up?"

"It's time to go to camp"

**Yeah, I know it's short. but give me a break. I wrote in an hour and I haven't gotten much time on the computer lately.**

**Please review. Also tell if there should be romance between Hazel and Alex. If not I'll decide. And I always make bad descisions. Hint hint.**

**Review,review,review!**


	5. Trains and bats and knockouts, oh my!

**Yet again, I'm speechless.**

After Hazel and I finished packing up the tent, we set off for camp.

We walked for what seemed like hours until we reached the edge of the forest. I looked back just once. I really had enjoyed the outdoors, with it's trees and thick undergrowth.

Hazel sighed. "Back to camp now, I guess."

I looked at her. "You don't sound so exited."

She shrugged. "Camp is boring. Out here in the real world is exiting. You learn wether you're any good or not. I'll miss it."

"Well, we won't be at camp for three or four days, right? It's in New York. Might as well enjoy the time you have while you have it." I said.

She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I should."

"Glad we got that cleared up. Come on. We should go." I said and started walking.

Hazel walked after me later. Her expression was hard to read. Maybe a little sad, but determined, too. She was still beautiful as ever. Her hair shone brightly under the morning sky. Then I realized I was staring. I looked away before she could notice.

As we walked on, I got restless. I was bored. I considered starting up a conversation, but just then, we reached a city.

"Detroit." Hazel breathed. "It's so big."

"Yeah. Big and polluted." I said angrily.

She looked amused. "You'll get along well with the satyrs."

I looked over at her. "Satyrs? Like goat men?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Satyrs are bigtime environmentalists."

"Cause of Pan?" I guessed.

"Yeah." She confirmed.

I sighed. "Well, we should get a ride or something, right?"

"Probably. Maybe a train?"

I shrugged. "Fine by me."

Hazel and I began walking into Detroit. Big, polluted, Detroit. It disgusted me how people ravaged the land so much.

When we reached a station, we waited in line for a few minutes until we got tickets. It turns out that Hazel had a lot of money with her.

"Well, I guess we board." I sighed

"Yeah." Hazel agreed.

So we got on and found a car with beds in it. Hazel set her stuff down and we walked back to the seats.

After watching the view from the train for about 30 minutes, I got a little drowsy and drifted off to sleep.

It was long and dreamless. it was really peaceful.

- - -

I woke up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. It took me a second to notice that Hazel was resting her head on my shoulder. I blushed.

I tried to ignore the amused looks I got from other passengers. Deciding not to wake her... yet, I settled back down and closed my eyes.

Hazel stirred about ten minutes later. Upon waking, she looked up for a few seconds, mumbled, "Alex? Oh, sorry," and rested her head back on my shoulder.

It was sort of awkward, now that she was awake. People were starting to stare.

"Um, Hazel?" I said.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up.

"Maybe we should go eat breakfast." I suggested.

"Oh, yeah. Good idea." She said, her face turning red.

so we got up and ate.

after eating I went to my bed and just felt like laying there. So I did.

"Aww. The little hero is tired." said a mocking voice.

I jumped to my feet to see a giant bat at the entrance to the room. It walked in and I pulled Aboe from it's sheath.

"Stand back!" I told it, swinging my sword in an ark.

The bat jumped back and laughed. "You have no hope of defeating me, little one!"

Shuddering, I said, "Ugh, I hate bats. Why are you here?" while stabbing at it.

"To terrorize you, of course!" It replied as it was lunging for my shoulder.

I rolled out of the way and Aboe changed into a dagger. I stabbed upward at the bat and and lost my grip on it. Unfortunately, a dagger wasn't enough to kill the bat, and I was left weaponless. I stood down.

"Just get it over with." I said, hoping I'd be able to dodge at the last moment and pull Aboe free.

It lunged. I tried to dodge, but I wasn't fast enough, and it bit me in the shoulder. I screamed in agony.

Just before I lost conciousness, I heard, "Alex!" It was Hazel. Three arrows sprouted from the bat's chest, and I blacked out.

**I'm sorry. Another short chapter. I just can't seem to be able to write fast.**

**review please.**


	6. I Lose a Bet

**wow. Am I really updating? Yeah... I think I am. **

**Whatever. Enjoy.**

**:O this is my longest chapter yet. Wows.**

* * *

When it comes to fainting, I figure I'm the champ.

I've fainted twice in the past week, and I'm sure I'll faint plenty more times next week.

Hazel says I should really try not to faint, because I need all my brain cells, and fainting doesn't help.

Anyway, When I woke up, my arm wasn't hurting anymore

I realized I was in a bed, and sat up and looked around.

I was in a small room with a window and a door. That's all.

Standing up was hard, because I was really tired, but when i did, I looked out the window.

There really wasn't much to see. I was on one side of a road, and on the other side were two building with faded signs and cracked windows. There wasn't a single person in sight. I shuddered. If this place didn't scream, "Ghost town" then I'm a squirrel.

I walked away from the window, and decided I'd try the door. I went over to it and turned the handle. It opened. I stepped out and found myself in a narrow hallway with a staircase at one end. There were two other doors, but I left them alone. Something about them scared me. Call me paranoid, but I really don't think I should have tried them.

Glancing back into the room, I closed the door and walked down the staircase. When I got down, I found myself facing a door. It looked like it went outside. I almost opened it, but then I heard voices coming from somewhere else in the building.

I couldn't make out what they were saying, so I headed in the direction that they were coming from. I walked through several rooms, before I finally reached a room the looked like a kitchen. Two girls were sitting at a table talking to each other. I immediately recognized one as Hazel, but the I'd never seen the other girl before.

I was about to call out to Hazel, but then I remembered our first encounter. I decided calling out to Hazel at any time ever was a bad idea. Very bad.

After a moment of thinking, I decided on talking then diving behind a wall.

"Hey!" I said then jumped behind the closest wall to me. That was just as well, because two arrows whizzed passed where I'd been standing a second ago. I began laughing and asked, "How do you do that?"

"Alex?" Hazel asked in disbelief.

"Well of course!" I replied and stepped out, still grinning. "you nearly killed me, you know. And for some reason, I've got this weird sense of de ja vu right now. I wonder why." I said, my voice heavy laden with sarcasm.

She smiled and gestured for me to sit down. "Well come on, sit down."

I sat down. "Who's your friend?" I asked, gesturing at the girl who I hadn't seen before. She had long jet black hair and brilliant brown eyes. I smiled at her and she smiled back. Something about her was captivatingly beautiful, but I wasn't quite sure what.

"Oh, yeah. Alex, this is Kylie. Kylie, this is Alex. Kylie's a daughter of Aphrodite." Hazel said. She glanced at Kylie. "She was on her way to Camp Half-Blood when I ran into her. I was looking for a place to stay the night in this wretched ghost town, and Kylie showed me to this house."

"I'd been staying here for a while," Kylie explained, "It was the only decent resting place for a while, and I was tired. It hasn't been used in a while, so I didn't even need to deal with any other people."

I nodded. "So... are we gonna go?"

"Sure," said Hazel, "We really were just waiting for you."

I took about two minutes to pack my things. Hazel and Kylie took a bit longer. When everyone had finally packed everything, we set off.

The town really was deserted. We didn't find a single person. I suggested we set out on the train tracks that ran through the place, and hop on any passing train. Hazel and Kylie agreed.

We walked along the tracks for about an hour before a train passed. When it did come, we stepped to the side of the tracks.

"On my count we'll jump, okay?" No one disagreed. "one... two... three!" We jumped into a cart and landed on something soft.

"Matresses," said Hazel, "Nice. Now I can take a nap. I'm a little tired after all that." Kylie and I both agreed, and we all slumped down and slept.

* * *

The train screeched to a stop in New York City, and I woke Kylie and Hazel up. They yawned and stretched, and then we jumped down from the train and walked out of the crowded train station.

"Glad that's over," Said Kylie, "I never did like trains. They make me feel sick. So, where next?"

"Camp Half-Blood," said Hazel, "We'll catch a taxi and be there in no time."

I raised my hand.

Hazel rolled her eyes at me. "Alex?" she asked sarcastically.

"Can we get something to eat?" I asked. Kylie immediately lit up.

"Ooh, yes _please_. I haven't eaten in forever." she begged.

Hazel gave in. "Oh, fine," she said, "Just make it quick."

We found a mall and shared a pizza and breadsticks.

About halfway through our meal I turned to Hazel and asked, "Wanna make a bet?"

She stopped eating and asked, "Like what?"

"We'll see who can eat a pizza the fastest." I said.

Hazel smiled. "You're on."

I rubbed my hands together and grinned. "Great. if you lose, you have to wear a clown costume for twenty-four hours."

"Fine," Hazel said, "But when you lose, Kylie and I get to dress you as a girl for the next twenty-four hours."

"Done," I said.

"Swear by the river styx?" Hazel asked. I nodded, and we both did. We bought two more pizzas, and returned to our seats.

Kylie counted down, "Three, Two, One, Go!" and we started. I had three pieces down in the first ten seconds. At twenty seconds, five, and at thirty, I had one more piece to go when Hazel said, "Finished!"

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I couldn't believe I'd lost.

Kylie and Hazel exchanged high-fives, and then they walked over to me, grinning widely. "Come on, loser, let's find you some clothes," Hazel said.

They dragged me over to a bunch of stores, arguing over what to buy, while I was shoved into a changing room when they needed me to try something on. It was probably the most embarassing day of my life.

When all the clothes were finally bought, I was dragged over to some make-up store, where Kylie picked out liptick and a bunch of other girly stuff to put on me.

When she was finished Hazel dragged me into one of those single person bathrooms and started dressing me up. They left while I changed, but then returned after.

Kylie started applying make-up, while Hazel worked on my hair. "Kylie," Hazel said, "His hair's not really long enough to do anything with it."

Kylie frowned, "I could lengthen it with magic," she suggested, "I'm pretty good with it, especially when it comes to hair."

"Or, you could buy a wig," I said.

"Nah," said Hazel, "I like the magic idea best," I sighed, knowing i was powerless in this situation, and accepted my fate.

"Stay still, Alex," said Kylie, and she said some words in ancient Greek (don't ask me how I knew it was greek, I just did) and I felt my hair grow longer until it was just past my shoulders.

The girls sat back and admired their work. "Wow, Alex. It's scary how much you actually look like a girl," Hazel said, smiling.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled.

"Okay, Alexis," said Hazel, and she and Kylie cracked up.

I blushed. After they finished laughing, Hazel said, "Well, do you want to see what you look like, Alexis?"

"Whatever," I said, and Hazel turned my chair to face the mirror. When I looked, my jaw dropped.

I didn't even recognize myself anymore. My hair was now down to my shoulders, and I had a ton of makeup on, including eyeshadow and lipstick. I wore a pink T-shirt that said something about how girls rule, and a skirt that ended just above my knees. I have to admit, Hazel was right, it _was_ scary.

"I really never should have made that bet," I said, shaking my head.

"You got that right," Kylie said. "Now C'mon, Alexis, let's go."

I went to walk out of the bathroom, but Hazel grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. There was a flash, and Hazel put a camera away.

"Oh, come on!" I complained as I realized she'd taken my picture, "That wasn't part of the bet!"

"Yeah, but I got your picture anyway, so it didn't _need _to be part of the bet," she said and stuck her tongue out at me.

I sighed, "Fine, but you'd better not show that to anyone,"

Hazel smiled, "Oh, I won't need to. The real thing will be ten times better than this for all the campers back home,"

"Then why'd you take the picture?" I asked.

she shrugged, "Blackmail,"

"I hate you," I said to her.

"Ok," she said cheerfully, and smiled, "I'll keep that in mind,"

"Let's get this over with," I said bitterly.

"After you, Alexis," Kylie said, and shoved me out of the door.

* * *

**WOW. I worked ALL DAY on this chapter. You'd better enjoy it.**

**I had alot of fun writing this xD. I feel really sorry for Alex. I think I'll make it up to him in the next chapter. Maybe he'll find someone who can relate to him? **

**please review. I'll try and get the next chapter up by Wednesday, but depending on how much homework I have, It might come earlier or later.**


	7. Coming To Camp

**Come on, no reviews? Really? No reviews means no one liked the chapter, right? Well, if I don't get reviews, I might stop writing.**

**Chapter 7, served with a double dose of embarresment and some new faces for Alex. **

**Enjoy**

* * *

It's funny how people will completely ignore you in New York.

You can walk around dressed like a freak and nobody will even look twice at you.

That's pretty much what happened to me.

When Kylie pushed me out of the bathroom, I expected everyone to be staring, but no one seemed to notice me at all. I wasn't sure if this was because, like Hazel said, I actually looked like a girl, or if the people really didn't care.

But even as I was thinking this, I noticed a group of girls, pointing at me and laughing. That made me blush fiercely, and they laughed even harder.

I told Hazel and Kylie to hurry up, and rushed out of the mall. When they caught up to me, they were still smiling.

"In a hurry to get somewhere, Alexis?" Kylie asked me.

"Actually, yeah. I was trying to find somewhere to lock myself up for the next day," I replied.

"Aww, come on. It's not that bad. You can change after lunch tommorow. And besides, I think your little make-over makes you look alot lot better than you did before. you should keep it that way," Kylie smirked.

"agreed," Hazel said.

"Har har har. You guys are hilarious," I said, "Now let's find a taxi. I wanna get this over with," I started along the sidewalk. Hazel and Kylie trailed behind, laughing.

When we got a taxi to stop for us, we piled in the back and Hazel handed the driver some money and told him where to go. He never once turned around or talked. He just took the money and drove away, which I thought was weird.

When we were on our way, I asked Kylie more about herself. She said she ran away from her home about a month back, and was attacked by monsters. She thought she was a goner, but Aphrodite appeared and saved her. She then told Kylie that she was her daughter, gave her provisions to last her for a while, and told her to travel to Camp Half-Blood.

"And now I'm here with you two," Kylie finished.

I clapped, "Wonderful story! So touching!"

Hazel looked at me in mock surprise, "Wow, Alexis, that's the first time you've made a joke since before you lost the bet,"

"Yeah, well maybe it's because you haven't made fun of me for the past... what was it, two minutes? Yep, that's definitely it," I said sarcastically.

Hazel and Kylie looked at each other, and Hazel said, "Well then we'll just have to make sure we don't leave more than a three minute gap between insults again," She smiled and began to talk about how she thought It was meant to be that I lost the bet, and that my clothes suited me perfectly. Kylie occasionally piped in, adding on to something Hazel said or complimenting my cute clothes and perfect hair. I sat through all of it, trying to tune them out and feeling really embarassed.

I was glad when the taxi finally stopped and we all shuffled out. But before the taxi left, the driver rolled down his window.

"Ladies, wait!" He called in a rasping voice. We turned around. Inwardly, I sighed. Even the taxi driver thinks I'm a girl. I looked at the guy in the drivers seat, and realized there was something wrong with him. He looked... _inhuman._ His skin was gray and his eyes were slits of yellow. I didn't have time to register anything else, because he threw two little capsules at us, and said, "Couldn't let you go without a parting gift, Half-Bloods." He laughed and drove off.

I dodged one of the capsules, and asked, "What the heck are these things?"

before anyone could answer my question, the capsules started emitting a green smoke. I coughed and collapsed to the ground. "Agh.... is this stuff like some kind of knock-out gas?"

"No idea," said Hazel, "But we should get out of it. _now._" I managed to pull myself up and walked away from the smoke. I was still coughing, and I felt really light-headed. Just when I thought I could relax, These two giant black dogs jumped out of the smoke and growled. I groaned.

"Really?" I sighed and fumbled to get Abeo from it's sheath. I'd never thought about it, but Abeo was always there when I needed it.

Hazel swore. "Hellhounds," she said, "Just perfect." she took out her bow and nocked an arrow. She realeased and had another nocked almost immediately after. Her arrows sunk into the hellounds' flesh, but they just growled and bounded towards us.

I charged with Abeo in full sword form and took a swing at one of the hellhounds. It jumped up and turned in midair, landing behind me. I lengthened Abeo and swung it in an arc at the thing. It was caught off guard and it disintigrated.

I quickly looked for the other Hellhound. It was almost upon Hazel and Kylie. Kylie had taken a dagger and was trying to stab the dog, but it nimbly dodged and counterattacked. I ran towards them, but before I made it, three arrows sprouted from the hellhounds chest.

I was confused, because there was no way Hazel could have shot those; she had been under attack, too. She turned towards the hill on one side of the road, and yelled, "Chiron!"

I turned. At the top of the hill was horse... no, a man, with a horse's body. A centaur. Even more shocking was that, behind him, a dragon stood curled around a tree.

The centaur nodded and galloped down the hill. "Welcome back, Hazel. I see you've brought some friends with you as well," he said gesturing towards Kylie and I. He eyed me quizzically, looking amused. "I take it you lost a bet?"

I looked down and blushed. "Yeah."

He nodded. "How unfortuanate. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss Hazel's quest with her. I'll assign someone to show you around the camp. Now, off you go...." He paused, "Well excuse me, but we don't seem to have been introduced yet. I'm Chiron, the camp director."

"I'm Alex." I told him, and Kylie in turn told him her name.

"Now, Alex and Kylie, if you will, please wait by the pine tree on the hill." Chiron said, and began walking towards the top. We followed.

When I reached the top, I took in a sharp breath. What I'd assumed to be just an empty valley past the hill was actually a perfect copy of an ancient greek city. There was a big gleaming arena, a rectangle of different assorted cabins, and a bunch of other buildings that looked as if they belonged about six-thousand years ago in the past.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," Said Chiron, "Your new home. I dearly hope you'll enjoy it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to talk to Hazel in the Big House." and he and Hazel started off towards one of the many great buildings, leaving Kylie and I to sit next to the dragon.

Along the way to the Big House, Chiron stopped to talk to a guy about my age and pointed towards Kylie and I. The boy nodded and started walking towards us. He had dark hair and olive skin and wore black jeans and an aviator's jacket.

While he was on his way, I said to Kylie, "This place is awesome." She nodded her agreement and replied, "It's way better than I expected by far. I think I might actually like this place."

I turned and inspected the dragon next to us. He was about twenty feet long and coiled around a pine tree. Draped from the tree, what looked like the fleece of some golden animal hung, glittering brightly in the sunlight. It had a positive aura to it, and could make you feel better by looking at it. I suddenly understood why there was a dragon positioned here. Something as valuble as that fleece needed watching.

When the guy finally got to us, he looked me up and down and asked, "Dude, why are you dressed like a girl?"

"I lost a bet," I mumbled, blushing.

"Ha ha, sucks to be you. But I feel for you, man. I know how it feels."

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah," He replied. "You have no idea how annoying it is to have Aphrodite girls pouring over you day and night telling you not to be so 'emo', and literally chaining you down and dressing you in a mini skirt and blouse, saying if you won't be a civilized guy, you might as well not be one at all." He shook his head and sighed.

"Oh, I think I have a good idea." I muttered, glancing at Kylie. She caught my gaze and smiled innocently.

"Anyway," the boy said, "Chiron told me to show you two around camp. Oh, and by the way, I'm Nico." and held his hand out.

"Alex," I introduced myself and shook Nico's hand. "And that's Kylie," I pointed to her.

"Hey," he said. She nodded in acknowledgement. "Hi."

"Well, we should probably get going" Nico said and set off down the hill. Kylie and I followed, listening as he explained which places were which and what they were used for.

I ignored all the people pointing and laughing at me, and tried to pay attention to what Nico was saying.

When we came to the wing of cabins, Nico explained how each cabin belonged to a god, and each camper was assigned the cabin of their Olympian parent.

"You two will be staying in the Hermes cabin for now, because we don't know who your parents are," Nico told us.

"Actually," Kylie said. "My mom is Aphrodite."

"Oh," said Nico, looking surprised. "Well in that case, the Aphrodite cabin is over that way." he pointed to a cabin on the right side of the wing**(A.N. sorry if I messed up which side the female gods are on, I haven't read the Lightning Theif in a while)**. "You should go and meet your cabinmates right now. They have free time this hour." Nico suggested. Kylie set off towards her new cabin. "Seeya later, Alex!" She called back.

Nico turned to me. "You'll be staying at the Hermes cabin until you're claimed."

"Actually, I have been. Hermes is my dad," I said. Nico looked suprised. Then he shrugged. "Then you'll stay there anyway. Hermes has a break this hour too, so you can go meet your cabinmates. But It's probably a good idea to keep a hand on your wallet at all times. Oh, and don't give Conner or Travis Stoll access to shaving cream." I didn't ask.

"Seeya," Said Nico. "Chiron asked to see me after I showed you around. And if you ever need me, I'll be in the Hades cabin over there." He pointed to a cabin, then waved and jogged off towards the Big House.

I started off towards the cabin Nico had showed me to, again ignoring all the people who were laughing at me. When I got to the front door of the cabin, I knocked. The door was opened by two guys who looked like they were about seventeen or eighteen. Both of them had curly brown hair and looked like they could be brothers. Behind them, people were yelling at eachother and having pillow fights or just plain fist fights.

The shorter of the two, on the left, said, "Oh. You must be the new girl. We heard there were some new campers that came in today. Alexis, was it?"

"Actually," I said, embarassed. "I'm a guy. And it's Alex."

The two guys look at each other, grinned, and looked back at me. "Well, um... I don't know how to put this, but-" the guy on the left started. "Normal guys don't dress like girls." The guy on the right finished.

"I know that!" I protested. "It's just, I lost a bet."

"A bet? What kind of bet?" The one on the right asked, seemingly intrigued.

"A pizza-eating contest." I told him.

"Ouch. Who'd you lose to?" he asked.

"Hazel, from the Apollo cabin," I said.

Imediately, the one on the left cracked up. "Dude, you lost to a girl? That's just sad!"

The guy on the right looked at him, "Conner, you lost a pizza-eating contest to Hazel just last week."

The one I assumed was Conner stopped laughing. "Oh, yeah... right. Well, she eats like some kind of monster." He said defensively.

"Whatever. Seeing as you lost a bet, we'll let you in, Alex. I'm Travis Stoll, by the way." Said the one on the right.

"And I'm Conner Stoll," The other one piped up. "We're brothers, and the head councilers for the Hermes cabin."

I walked in, and Conner introduced me to the other people there. "Hey everyone! This is Alex, and he'll be your newest cabin mate! Oh, and he's dressed like that because he lost a bet, not because he wants to!"

Some people laughed, but I'd learned to ignore everyone making fun of me by now. Everyone else just said "Hey," or "Hiya," or "Hi" or "Heya," or... well you get it, and went back to what they were doing.

Travis showed me to my bunk and then went back to playing a game of poker with some other kids from the cabin.

I checked to make sure my bunk wasn't rigged with some kind of trap or stinkbombs or something, and put my stuff under the covers, save for Abeo, which I stuffed into it's sheath and strapped to my waist. I didn't want anyone stealing it.

I looked around for something to do, then settled on watching the poker game. It was kind of boring, because Travis won every round and wiped everyone elses money out.

Suddenly, a horn sounded, and Conner stood up. "Everyone stop what your doing and line up outside according to ranks! It's time for sword practice!" I followed everyone outside, and Conner placed me in the line where I should go. Since I was already claimed, I was ahead of about four kids, who I guessed were unclaimed. All the regular Hermes campers, about twenty, were ahead of me.

We set off towards the big arena and suited up in armor. Luckily, Travis managed to dig up an old pair of armor that used to belong some kid named Percy's and he gave it to me to put on.

"Oh, speaking of Percy," Travis said. "There he is right now." he was looking at a guy who was probably about sixteen and had green eyes and black hair. He was getting his armor on and he was holding a pen like a sword. I wondered how that would help him, and then he uncapped it. My jaw dropped. The pen had immediately grew into a three foot long sword.

"How'd he do that? I asked Travis.

"Oh, his pen? Yeah, it's magic. When he uncaps it, it becomes a sword, and when he puts the cap on, it's a pen. Speaking of swords, we should probably get you one." He told me.

"Oh, yeah, I've got a sword." I showed him Abeo. He shrugged. "Okay, then. Let's go and get started." He led me into the arena and walked over to Conner. I noticed that Percy had joined both of them, too.

When everyone made their way into the arena, Conner started talking. "Okay everyone, quiet down! Today we'll be working on individual duels. Everyone grab a partner and-" Before he could finish, someone came running into the arena. "Sorry I'm late, everyone! Chiron kept me later than I'd thought he would." I recognized the speaker as Nico. He was clad in dark armor and held a black sword in his hand. Overall, he was a pretty intimidating sight.

"My gods, are we going to have the whole camp in here today?" Conner asked in exasperation. "Well, come on in then, Nico." Nico took a place next to Percy. "As I was saying, we'll be working on individual duels. Get a partner, find some space, and begin." Everyone scrambled to find their friends, and I was left alone. I was wondering what to do next, when Nico walked over. "Wanna partner up?"

I shrugged. "I don't really have much of a choice, do I? Eh, sure." We found an empty spot and took our places. I pulled my sword out. "Go!" Nico said and rushed foward. He brought his sword down in a deadly arc aimed at my head. I managed to parry, but the sheer force behind the blow was too much. My sword clattered out of my hand and Nico had his at my throat. He grinned at me. "Nice try, but your blocking technique isn't quite right." He showed me the correct way to parry a blow, and we started again.

This time, I managed to block Nico's first few blows, but he switched tactics, stepping towards me and twisting my sword arm. I dropped Abeo and struggled free from Nico's grip. I retrieved my sword and we started again. I was determined to win this round. I blocked Nico's first overhand cut and cut at his left side. He blocked, and aimed a thrust at me. I stepped aside and kicked his legs out from under him as he flew past. Before he could recover, I pushed my sword against his throat. "Nice one. Should've seen that coming," he said as I helped him up.

"Thanks," I replied. Just then I noticed that Percy had walked over. "Wow, Nico," he said. "Losing your luster? The new girl just beat you in your third duel!" He smiled at me to show he meant no offense.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Alex is a guy. He's just dressed like a girl." Percy laughed and raised an eyebrow at me. "Lost a bet?"

"Yup," I replied. "Pizza eating contest. Hazel beat me." Percy laughed. "Yeah, she beats _everyone _in pizza eating contests. Who knew? Anyway, I should probably get back to Travis and Conner. They want at least a thousand rematches. Seeya."

"That was Percy," said Nico. "He saved Olympus about a year ago. Had this huge prophecy about him that said he would make a descision to either destroy or save the gods. He saved it. But even though he's a hero, he can be pretty annoying sometimes. Well, enough talk about Percy, let's get back to our duels." He then proceeded to shove me over and put his sword to my neck. "I win." He said, grinning

"No fair!" I protested. He laughed and let me up. "Life isn't fair," he told me. "Deal with it.

We continued dueling until the horn blew. Travis and Conner then marched us, with the exeption of Percy and Nico, to a bunch of different activities until the end of the day. We all returned to our cabins and got ready for bed then. I sighed and flopped down on my bunk, exhausted. So much had happened in such a short day. I couldn't wait for tommorow.

* * *

**Longest chapter yet by over 1,000 words! Yes! Well, I hoped you enjoyed it! I made it extra long to make up for my lack of updates while I quit.**

**I can't stress this enough, people. IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE WRITNG, REVIEW MY ASS OFF! *cough* I'm serious, review. It doesn't have to be long, it could just be like, "good," or, "keep writing," Or, "It sucked, go to hell." (lol) but review. If I get lots I'll write quicker. Unless you don't want me to....**

**Well, that was chapter seven, more coming up later in the week hopefully.**


	8. A Brilliant Escape Plan

**Sorry for not updating in a long time. I was fresh out of ideas. Here is the next chapter.**

* * *

"Oh my gods, Alex. Anyone who'd just met you would have thought you were clumsy." Hazel smirked as I dropped my sneakers

"What? Me? Clumsy?" I joked as I handled my left shoe with great care, because I dind't want to mess them up in any way. I'd recently aquired new shoes in the year since I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood. In one year, not much had changed, except that I felt more accepted and at home. Me and Hazel still joked around, sometimes with the additon of Kylie and Nico. Since I'd arrived at camp, the four of us became nearly inseperable. We often got into trouble, usually from plans engineered by me. It's not that they were bad plans, it's just that... well, yeah, they were bad.

What kind of plans? Oh, stuff like putting a huged timed inflatable horse in the Ares cabin and setting it to go off when all the kids in the cabin fell asleep (we got kitchen duty for that one), or rigging a wire that dropped glue and feathers on the first persone unfortuanate enough to walk into the Nike cabin (double kitchen duty), or.... well, this might've been a bit of a stretch, but... Putting grafitti all over the Athena cabin's books (A ham sandwhich in the face and a full beating from the whole cabin). Ah... good times.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I care so much for some stupid sneakers. They're actually my christmas gift from Hermes. No, he doesn't hate me. My 'Sneakers' are very appropriately named, as they enable me to walk making no noise, which is very useful. More and more often I'm sought after for capture the flag because of my ability to sneak up on the flag unnoticed.

"Hurry up. Nico and Kylie will be waiting." Hazel said, tapping her fingers impatiently on my bedpost. We were in the Hermes cabin (not alone, of course. I do follow some rules) and it was sunday morning. Mr. D had permitted a day off, probably so he wouldn't have to monitor any of the campers- That lazy old drunk- and Nico, Kylie, Hazel, and I had planned to ditch the camp and go into the city.

I fumbled with my shoes, and when I finally got them on, I followed Hazel out of the cabin. "So what are we gonna do when we get to the city?" I asked when I caught up to her.

"Well, I was thinking pizza eating contests..." Hazel subtly mocked me.

"Nice try," I smiled. "But you can't trick me like that again."

She shrugged. "Well, I tried, anyway. But seriously, I think we should go bowling or something."

"Yeah. Bowling's always fun." I paused, then added, "I bet I'll beat you."

Hazel smiled. "You _bet_? Wanna make that official?"

"No, not _bet_. You know what I mean." I told her.

She feigned interest. "I don't believe I do. Please enlighten me."

"Well," I started sarcastically, "The word _bet_ is often used to express feelings of sureness."

Me and Hazel shared a laugh just as Kylie and Nico came into view near the forest. Nico was leaned against a tree with his hands in his pockets. He was tapping his foot to some unknown beat, that I found, upon further observation, came from his ipod. Kylie was sitting cross-legged on the ground picking grass clumps, looking really bored.

Nico looked up and noticed Hazel and I. "Well, it took you long enough." he grumbled.

"Yeah," Hazel said. "We would have been faster, but Alex here kept dropping his shoes."

I grinned sheepishly. "What can I say? I'm a pretty clumsy theif."

"And a good thing, too. You would have stolen my wallet if you hadn't tripped on my cabin's front step." Nico said.

"Then you tried to take my daggers and ran into a tree." Kylie added. We all laughed.

"Yeah, I've still got a bruise from that on my nose." I said between laughs. That amped up the laughter.

When we recovered, I said, "If we're all done laughing at me, then I'd kind of like to get started on the whole 'Going into the city' thing we planned."

"Ah... okay." Nico said, still smiling. "How're we gonna do this again?"

I rolled my eyes. This was the third time Nico forgot what we'd do on a day off. "We're going through the woods, and sneaking out of the camp boundaries that way to avoid detection. Then we start walking towards the city, and when we get there, we do whatever we want until this watch I stole from the camp store points to 5:00." I paused. "Hazel and I were thinking we'd go bowling. We all okay with that?" Nico nodded and Kylie shrugged. "Good. At 5:00, we start heading home. Hopefully we haven't missed out on some kind of mutant cow invasion or something," That won a few snickers. "And we pretend we were at camp the whole day. Got it?"

"Yeah whatever," Nico said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's just get on with it."

Kylie nodded. "We don't get time off like this that often. We should get going now so we don't waste a minute."

"Okay, let's go then." I said and started off into the woods. Kylie and Hazel fell into step behind me, and Nico hung a little further back. After a few minutes, we took a right turn. Of course, I tripped on a log the moment we turned. Hazel laughed and said, "Walk much, Alex?" but she didn't help me up. Only when Nico had passed me did I manage to get up and brush myself off.

"Wow." Nico started when I caught up to him. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna impress Hazel." He sounded kind of amused.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend you don't like her. I have eyes and ears you know. I can see you and Hazel joking around together. Also, Kylie can kind of... guage peoples feelings. Not quite like a satyr; she can only tell if she's around a person for long enough-"

"Woah, dude. Hazel and I are just friends. You got bones for brains up in that head?" I told him, a little forcefully.

He raised his hands up in mock surrender. "Okaaay. I'll shut up." he paused, then added in a more joking tone, "I didn't really mean it, anyway. Just a little joke. C'mon, I wouldn't really talk about that, would I?"

I hadn't realized it then, but looking back on it, Nico's face had turned slightly red. But, this _was_ Nico. The cold was probably just getting him.

"Whatever." I said. "Let's catch up to the girls"

Nico shrugged. "Sure." He looked around. "Umm... where are they anyway?"

I frowned. "I don't know. I don't see them." I thought for a moment, then drew a breath in to call for them.

When I was about to call out, a hand clamped around my mouth.

* * *

**Yeah, yeah. I know. shorter chapter than I've been writing lately, but I really didn't want to write about the city, and I have to make something happen, so I stopped it with a cliffie. Review please.**

**Also, do you prefer fast updates with 1000 words or so, or 2-3 day updates with edited 3500 goodiness? Review with answers please.**


	9. Nico? Are you okay buddy?

"What the-" I started, even though my voice was muffled, but something hit me in the back of the head. "Ow..." I mumbled, rubbing the newly forming bump.

"Shut up!" someone hissed. It was Hazel. She withdrew her hand from my mouth and I turned around.

"What was that for?" I whispered. "And why are we whispering?"

"Because," Hazel started. "There are two very deadly monsters in the woods about two-hundred feet away. If I hadn't stopped you from yelling, you would've gotten us killed."

"Oh," was all I could come up with. "So... what are we going to do about it?"

Hazel smirked at me. "You're the brilliant plan-maker. Come up with something yourself."

"Well, I don't exactly know what these monsters are, so..." I shrugged.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "One of them is a huge kind of spider, and the other is a gorgon."

"Wait, a gorgon? I thought they were extinct, except for Medusa, and Percy got rid of her awhile ago..." Nico said. He looked puzzled. "But then again, he never was lucky enough for monsters he killed to stay dead for a long time."

"Well, we just saw one, and it definitely wasn't Medusa." Kylie said.

Hazel nodded. "Now that you know what they are, you can come up with a plan, Alex. Right?"

A giant spider rose up behind Hazel. "Um, I don't think I'll have time." I stuttered.

"What? Why?" Hazel asked.

All I could do was point behind her. Her eyes widened as she understood. She flew around to see a spider poised to strike.

"Oh my gods." She muttered and pulled out her bow. The spider struck and narrowly missed Hazel. She responded by shooting a sonic arrow that blew up in the things face. It let out a long horrible screech, then fell over. A moment later, it blew up into dark brown dust.

"Nice shot," Nico told Hazel while pulling his Stygian iron sword. I figured I should take my weapons out, so I pulled aboe and Kylie's dagger out. Hey, when she said I ran into a tree, that didn't mean I didn't get the dagger.

Kylie was fumbling around for her daggers and when she only found one she immediately turned to me. "Alex! Give me my dagger! You have your own!"

"Yeah, but yours are nicer," I whined, but threw her the dagger anyway. She caught it, and I pulled my own out. It was a little rusty, because I didn't take care of it as well as aboe, and it wasn't weighted very well, but I chose it because it belonged to a famous assassin, who was a son of Hermes.

At the moment, I'd changed aboe into a huge buster sword just to show off, and held my dagger backwards. I held it that way because it just felt right when using a sword and dagger together (and to show off).

We formed a circle, backs facing towards the middle, and turned our gazes downward so we wouldn't get turned to stone. We'd taken a lot of monster fighting classes, so we knew the drill. Looking up when a gorgon was around was a no-no.

After we waited for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few seconds, I asked, "Hey, uh, you sure you saw a gorgon?"

Kylie looked up. "Yeah, we-" then she screamed. a moment later I heard leaves and branches cracking accompanied by feminine laughter.

"Kylie!" Hazel exclaimed. I looked over to her, carefully averting any contact with a gorgon. Hazel was staring towards a heap on the ground, which I realized was Kylie. She wasn't turned into stone- Thank the gods- but she wasn't moving at all.

"Hazel," I began. "Take her back to camp. Find Chiron." She looked like she was going to protest, but I stopped her. "Nico and I can handle some dumb gorgon. And besides, your bow will be useless in these woods."

Hazel nodded. She picked up Kylie and started dragging her back the way we came. Nico and I turned our attention to the surrounding woods.

"Hey, Nico," I said. "If I get turned to stone, don't touch my sword."

He glanced over. "If I get turned to stone, I want you to take my sword. Then stab yourself for convincing me to come along."

I nodded. "Fair enough. But I'd rather neither of us gets turned to stone in the first place."

"Yeah, that'd probably be good." Nico agreed.

I turned my attention to the surrounding woods. I wasn't looking up- again, a no-no- but I was listening very intently. I could hear faint rustling... from my left.

I crept very slowly forward, then quickly lashed out with my sword to where I heard the noise. My sword hit something hard. There was a resounding _clang_.

"Damn! What was that for?" Came the voice. It was gruff, but young. I looked up, startled. Standing in front of me, his expression somewhere between surprise and anger, was another camper. His blonde hair fell below his eyes, which were a bizarre reddish-yellow color. He was quite a bit taller than me, and looked a bit older. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. I recognized him as an Ares camper.

"Oh, uh, thought you were a gorgon," I apologized. We drew our swords back.

"A gorgon? There's one here? In camp?" He asked, looking slightly alarmed, but also a little bit skeptical. He pulled his sword up again, poised for attack.

I nodded. "Well, technically this is the woods, but... Yeah, a gorgon."

"Then why are you standing around? C'mon, you're going to get destroyed out here in this clearing. Find some cover, or go back to camp and warn Chiron," The camper advised.

"Hazel's already done that," I told him.

"You mean there were more people out here?" He asked.

I nodded again. "Two more. Hazel and Kylie."

"Are they safe?" He asked.

"I think so," I told him.

He nodded. "Good. Hey, by the way, who are you? I've seen you around camp, but I don't know your name."

"Alex," I told him. "Alex Pennecost, son of Hermes. And how about you?"

"Evan Cleaver, son of Ares," He said proudly.

Nico started cracking up. "Hahahahaha! Evan_ Cleaver_? Alex _Pennecost_? That's pure gold."

I glanced at Evan. "Something funny about our names, Nico?" I queried.

"Don't you get it?" He asked, smiling broadly. "You're a son of Hermes, who's last name is Is _Pennecost_." I showed no reaction. He frowned. "Get it? Pennecost? Like penny cost? You know, Hermes, god of theives..." He trailed away. "Oh whatever. But a son of Ares, named _Cleaver_?" No reaction. He sighed. "Tough crowd."

Evan shook his head. He started walking away-in the wrong direction. "If we're quite ready, we're going to have to find this gorgon," He called over his shoulder.

I shuddered. "Hey wait up!" I called, and motioned for Nico to follow me. We started off after the older camper, who was already making progress.

"You're going the wrong way," I told him. He spun around.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

I scratched my head. "For one, I spotted tracks at the other side. Also, this way is back to camp,"

He turned to Nico, who shrugged. "Alex is usually right," He told him.

The camper sighed, and rolled his eyes. "Fine, then you lead."

I turned around. "My pleasure."

* * *

**So sorry for the long wait. I just couldn't seem to be able to write. But here's the chapter.**

**Just a warning, My chapters MAY end up kind of depressing, because of... stuff. **

**Unlike most people, personal issues have _inspired_ me to write. **

**But let's just say, there's not much romance coming up.**


	10. Evan is a speed demon?

I think I set a pretty fast pace for Nico and Evan. They were tripping and cussing (Well, Evan was cussing), and looked pretty tired after about five minutes. Every so often they would get a brief respite as I stopped to check for tracks or signs of the gorgon.

The trail was pretty easy to follow. I figured the gorgon hadn't had enough time to cover up it's tracks or try to throw us off. Trees and twigs were bent all over, and leaves were crushed.

I tried to move as quietly as I could, in case of an ambush, but Evan and Nico were stumbling around like they were drunk, completely killing the whole, "quiet," thing.

Nico stopped, panting. "How are we supposed to keep up, Alex?"

"Shut up!" I said in an undertone. "You're going to get us all turned into stone!"

Nico raised his hands in surrender. "Ok, almighty leader. I'll do as you ask. But you're going a little fast for my liking."

I rolled my eyes. "If you want to spend the rest of eternity as a granite hunk, be my guest. But if you want to have control of your body parts, I suggest you shut up, and keep up."

He didn't make a peep.

We came to a clearing, where a cave was carved halfway up into a sheer rock wall. The tracks stopped right at the bottom of the wall. The climb to the cave was about fifty feet. I scanned the wall. There weren't many footholds.

"Well," I muttered. "It looks like we've found our gorgon. Like the location or not."

Evan growled. "Let me handle this." He strapped his sword to his back and began the treacherous climb.

I halfway raised my hand, as if to stop him, but relaxed as he prowled up the wall like a monkey. He made it halfway up in about ten seconds. I turned to look at Nico. His head was craned to watch Evan, and he was gaping at him.

Evan made it to the mouth of the cave in a flat twenty-five seconds. I shook my head.

"Told you." Evan said, unstrapping his sword. "Now, just wait. This shouldn't take long." he plunged into the darkness.

"Freaking spider..." Nico muttered. "How did he do that?"

I shrugged. "Lots of practice on the wall at camp? That thing sure inspires speed." twenty gallons of lava rushing up at you will make even the laziest of half-bloods scamper up the wall like a mountain goat.

Nico might have responded, but we heard clanging from inside the cave, and a loud scream followed soon after. The noises stopped, and we just heard footsteps. I averted my gaze, for fear of getting transformed into a big slab of stone, but looked back up when I heard Evan's voice.

"Uh, guys? The thing's head fell off, and it's seeping this green stuff all over. What do I do with it?" He yelled down. So he'd beaten the thing. He was still alive.

And he did it in half a minute. A gorgon. Weapon of stone-creating doom. He'd taken one down. In _half a minute._

I half raised my hand and pointed at Evan. "You were--the gorgon--you should be--what the--how?!?!?!?!" I was gaping, and my eyes were practically popping out of my head. Nico was no better. His jaw was almost on the floor and he was staring at his jet-black pocketwatch.

"Evan..." he started. "You just took out a fricking _gorgon_ in thirty-seven seconds flat. How in the Hades???" He looked awestruck, just staring at Evan.

"Um..." Evan mumbled, scratching at the back of his head, squinting in the sunlight. "Was it really that quick?"

"Um, yeah!" Nico responded, pretty much mocking Evan's surprised/modest manor.

"How?!?!?!?!" I repeated, still in shock.

Evan shrugged. "I dunno. Lucky, I guess? But what should I do with the head?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "Why don't you just wrap it up and take it with us. Maybe we'll use it for something."

"Uh, ok. I'll be right back, I guess." He said. He backed up and was lost in the shadows of the cave.

I looked up through the trees. It had darkened quite a bit since we'd entered the forest. I wondered how Hazel and Kylie were doing. I hoped they'd made it to camp safely. Kylie hadn't looked very good when I last saw her.

Suddenly, there was clattering from inside the cave. I was jolted back to reality.

"Evan?" I called up to the cave mouth.

"Oh, uh, sorry!" He yelled. "I dropped my sword!"

"Oh. Ok then! Carry on!"

"Will do!"

I heard him picking up his sword, and grunting. It must've been pretty heavy. When I'd seen it earlier, it looked about three quarters of Evan's size. He was obviously pretty strong if he could weild it in regular battle.

I heard more footsteps, and Evan soon emerged from the cave, carrying a circular cloth bundle.

"Is that it?" I called up to him.

"Yeah. It's pretty heavy, for a head," He said. "I would've guessed it was lighter," He shrugged. "But, anyway, catch this. I can't carry it down climbing."

"Sure, just toss it down." I told him.

He did, and I caught it. "Alright, let's head back to camp."

Evan grunted his agreement and began the descent down the huge slab of stone.

Where he touched down, dust flew and twigs cracked. He brushed himself off, and said, "Alright, let's get going."

We set off back the way we came, still in shock from Evan's quick victory.

It was almost twilight by the time we arrived at camp, and I figured our little excursion had taken maybe four hours. The camp looked settled, resting after dinner and preparing for the campfire.

Chiron was waiting alongside Hazel near the edge of the forest. They were a slight shift away from where we emerged from, a little to the left.

They looked like they were in deep conversation. Chiron's back was turned, and Hazel was going on and on about something, her eyes wide. As soon as we came into view, she noticed our little party.

"Guys! You're okay!" she exclaimed. A smile spread across her face, and she rushed in our direction.

"Yeah, we--woah!" I began, but was cut off when Hazel caught me in a fierce embrace. I was caught off guard for a moment, but then I hugged her back. I caught Nico's eye, and he gave me a little thumbs up. I stuck my tongue out at him.

When she finally released me from her death grip, Hazel stepped back, a little red in the face, and said, "Sorry, I was just worried you were a giant hunk of stone."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Oh, we all know you're just looking for excuses to hug me. Just admit it."

She went to respond, but Chiron, who must have cantered over while I was caught in Hazel's attempt to kill me, cleared his throat and said, "I'm glad you're all safe, but if you don't mind, might we discuss why you were in the forest today?"

I sighed, knowing I'd be on KP for at least a week or two. Give or take a month.


End file.
